I got into a bit of a spat over at La Shawn Barber’s Corner. (I know, I should know better. But I can’t help thinking that if ever we were to meet we’d actually get on rather well) Anyway, I got off to a bad start by suggesting that all Muslims should be rounded up and imprisoned. Perhaps I was being a bit flippant and she took it amiss, responding
If you want to obscure the issue and accuse me of wanting to make all Muslims the enemy, go ahead.
I took that to mean that she doesn’t believe that all Muslims are the enemy. Then today she quotes Michael Graham approvingly under the heading “Islam is a terror organization”:
The nature of the terrorist threat is unambiguously Islamic and is not so much a deviation from Muslim tradition as an appeal to it…Regarding classical Islam, the oft-quoted remark that Islam is a religion of peace is false
Now I’m confused. Am I missing something?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Randy McRoberts 07.28.05 at 4:56 pm
Hey there, Richard. Or is it Rich now?
It is easy to fall in the trap of overgeneralization. I’ve been there myself, sorry to say. The problem needs a solution, and the easiest way to solve it is to go overboard. Not the best way, just the easiest.
I guess I’m somewhere between you and LaShawn, but I don’t find it very enjoyable to read her blog these days.
Robert 07.28.05 at 6:43 pm
Hey Richard,
I was posting over on that thread at LaShawn’s as well. I appreciated your comments and was appalled at the kind of responses you were getting, both from LaShawn herself and from some of the other posters. There is definitely an inconsistency in how she’s treating the issue, and I spotted the same thing you did with the Graham reference. But it seems that now the consensus over there is that the solution to the terrorist problem is to wipe out Islam, as evidenced in the post you referenced.
Like Randy said, it’s tempting to just go with the most overt use of brute force to solve a problem rather than deal with the nagging complexities of, say, having a Constitution that protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures (our 4th Amendment) or a Christian religion that simultaneously declares Islam to be a false religion and yet commands Christians to love Muslims.
I’m quite disturbed by the tone of LaShawn’s blog these days. It’s become extremely abrasive and self-righteous, and anybody who disagrees with her gets castigated. (Look at the comments she left toward the end of that thread — “Don’t waste precious oxygen.” Exactly how does this reflect well on someone claiming to be a Christian?) I’ve taken her off my blogroll and I’m only visiting there now in hopes that things will change. Pity, since her blog was one of the ones that inspired me to start my own.
Bene Diction 07.28.05 at 8:19 pm
Rich, Rich, Rich, Rich, Rich.
A bit of a spat with Ms. Barber eh?
I have great respect for your pro-discussion stance Richard.
You are supposed to just agree when you visit, even if it is all confused.:^)
Randy nailed it.
Wood 07.29.05 at 9:41 am
I have to say, I really wonder why you bother arguing with people who are clearly barking mad.
Bene Diction 07.30.05 at 7:16 am
Graham’s comments about Muslims weren’t the first to get him into trouble with his employers. According to news accounts, he has been fired twice from radio hosting jobs for on-air statements.
His most recent termination was in 1999 when he was working as a radio talk-show host on WBT in Charlotte. Just hours after the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, Graham told listeners that the killing of athletes at the school was “one minor benefit of this otherwise horrible story.”
source: Washington Post
He was suspended this week from WMAL for crossing the line and for repeatedly describing Islam as a “terrorist organization” on his program.
Richard 07.30.05 at 10:50 am
I noticed he’s been suspended - and he’d already prepared his “martyr” card. I wonder what sort of outcry there’ll be. Some of La Shawn’s commenters have sent emails of support…
Bene Diction 07.30.05 at 11:31 am
He has a website, and you are correct, he is playing the free speech card, and that CAIR is out to get him.
http://www.michaelgraham.com/
Graham is a local radio personality who bills himself as a political humourist, talk show host, political consultant.
According to a trade paper, he went to the Washington Post about being suspended - media using media. He lost two previous jobs which isn’t uncommon in the genre.
Some of those support emails are real corkers.
John 07.30.05 at 2:17 pm
Barber can dish out the sarcasm, but she can’t take it.
Richard 07.30.05 at 7:41 pm
We all have our weaknesses though, eh?
John 08.01.05 at 10:06 pm
Well, yes. But hers irritate me more than mine do